Help diagnosing a dGPU issue

[rshah21]

Hi folks,
Hoping I can get someone's help in diagnosing a problem I'm having with my SurfaceBook i7/16GB/dGPU model.

With certain apps, when I run using the dGPU, I only get a black screen. There is sound and the application cursor changes, but just a black screen. This is for some apps, not all. I think I have this nailed down to apps using OpenGL, but not 100% sure. I took this into a Microsoft Store and met with an orange shirt. We did a Win10 upgrade in place to refresh the OS files, and then did all updates through and including the 4/19 updates. When that proved unsuccessful, the tech just claimed it was a driver issue and I had to wait for the drivers to get updated - which I don't believe, since this is affecting common apps like Photoshop and Wunderlist.

If anyone has a matching SurfaceBook, could you please respond if you can successfully use Photoshop / Wunderlist / The Elder Scrolls Online (these are three apps I know don't work for me) using the dGPU explicitly? (These apps work under the integrated graphics chipset). If I get confirmation that it's working on someone else's machine then I know that I should go in and ask for replacement hardware.

Thank you in advance
Raj

 

[dcoplien]

I have had no problems with Photoshop. I tested by using the NVIDIA control panel set to auto and to program specific. Haven't installed my video software yet which is why I bought the SB but did see a big improvement with the GoPro software.

 

[Nosediver]

I have the same setup. For me Adobe Premiere only works with integrated Intel graphics. When I force the Nvidia graphics I get the above mentioned black screens. Adobe is not helpful as they officially only support single graphic cards.

 

[dcoplien]

I have the same setup. For me Adobe Premiere only works with integrated Intel graphics. When I force the Nvidia graphics I get the above mentioned black screens. Adobe is not helpful as they officially only support single graphic cards.

Well I guess that solves a question for me...keep Premier or switch. Glad I hadn't installed it yet.

 

[dcoplien]

I was curious as to why there were blogs saying how well the dGPU/SB worked with Premier yet so many people get black screens. Late last fall I got a free copy of Premier Elements 14 with a ton of photo gear I bought but had never installed it. Rather than buying another license for Premier Pro and hoping it would work, I installed Elements, set it to use NVIDIA and it works, no black screen. Any chance the difference is between Pro and Elements or did I just luck out with one of the SB's where Premier will actually work? I really do not want Pro on my SB if it isn't going to work.

 

[rshah21]

Thanks Nosediver and dcoplien. The fact that some people have the same app working and some don't is a little disheartening, but it points me towards potentially faulty hardware more than drivers... time to figure out how to image the SB and then send it in for repairs...

 

[dcoplien]

After my initial updates I used DISM with a clean Win 10 iso....not the SB iso. Had to do the same thing with my SP4. If you run SFC/scannow and get errors, try using DISM and see if that solves the problem. Note that after DISM I had to re-run SFC/scannow to correct the problems. With my SP4 the original problem was using a USB Ethernet adaptor. SFC showed multiple problems I wasn't aware I had.

 

[Sprayingmango]

What is DISM and can someone link me to a page on how to use this on a Surface Book?

 

[Orlbuckeye]

Well I guess that solves a question for me...keep Premier or switch. Glad I hadn't installed it yet.

Some apps that don't allow you to use DGPU won't a;llow you to set Nvidia as the default graphics. GOM Video Player won't even allow me to switch from integrated to Nvidia.

 

[rshah21]

DISM returned the expected OpenCLL.DLL issue, which I cleaned out using a RestoreHealth and a media tool created ISO. Didn't help the issue though (but my screen flicker is down, so there's that)

 

[Orlbuckeye]

Well when I turned on my SB last night and checked for updates a Nvidia driver update was out there. Did you install the new driver?

 

[DanielN]

What is DISM and can someone link me to a page on how to use this on a Surface Book?

DISM - Deployment Image Servicing and Management Technical Reference for Windows